Tibet

The next day was New Year's Eve, and the streets of Jincheng, which were busy yesterday, suddenly became quiet. There were few people and cars on the streets. Occasionally, I only saw patrol cavalry passing by to maintain order. Every household was busy preparing New Year's Eve dinner and preparing sacrifices to their ancestors.

At noon, a carriage stopped at the back house of Pang Mansion. Not long after, the small door of the back house opened. Pang Fu walked out, looked around, turned around and waved his hand, and saw a tall and thin man wearing a bamboo hat. The man walked out quickly and got directly into the carriage.

The carriage then turned around and sped away. Pang Fu watched the carriage go away and sighed helplessly, "Master, I'm so sorry!"

In the carriage, Liu Yuan had taken off his bamboo hat, his hands and feet were tied behind his back, and his mouth was gagged. He looked at the three burly men in front of him in horror. At this time, the carriage stopped and a thin man stepped onto the carriage. She looked at him and nodded, "That's him!"

Liu Yuan recognized this thin man, Song Yi, who was his subordinate when he was a Tubo Han official. He immediately understood that he was going to be liquidated, and endless despair surged into his heart.

Song Yi left, and the carriage continued to drive. A black bag covered Liu Yuan's head. In despair, he fell into endless darkness again.

On New Year's Eve, Li Ye's house is also preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner. The servants' annual rewards have been distributed. Most of the locals have gone home for the holidays. The servants who stay at the house to celebrate the New Year are basically following from Xiangyang. The master's servants came to Longyou, as well as several wet nurses and female guards.

Li Ye also started to rest today. From today to the fifth day of the first lunar month, he would rest for six consecutive days. In the study, Li Ye was discussing the sacrifice with his wife Dugu Xinyue.

Dugu Xinyue said to Li Ye: "I just asked Auntie, and she said it's okay not to add other non-direct ancestors for the time being."

Of course, Li Ye's family also wanted to worship their ancestors. They built a separate courtyard as an ancestral hall and dedicated the tablets of their ancestors, Prince Li Shuliang of Changping County, great ancestor Li Xiaobin, great ancestor Li Sijie, and grandfather Li Linfu. Of course, the whole family is very big, so they have to include them. You can also offer sacrifices. It doesn't matter if you find it troublesome. After all, Li Ye's place is not a ancestral hall, but just a temporary sacrificial house.

Li Ye asked his wife to ask his aunt Li Tengkong what he meant. Li Tengkong also agreed with Li Ye's idea and just offered sacrifices to his direct ancestors.

"Did Agu say she was coming?" Li Ye asked again.

"She said she couldn't come and would read a scripture to her grandparents."

Li Ye fully understood that Li Tengkong was a monk and she had her own way of mourning her parents without following secular etiquette.

Dugu Xinyue whispered again: "Husband, we also want to offer a stick of incense to our deceased ancestors in our room."

Of course Li Ye understands the mood of his family. New Year is here, Dugu Xinyue wants to mourn his mother, Yang Yuhuan wants to mourn his parents, and Liu Qingyu also misses his mother very much. It is normal.

Li Ye nodded, "You should arrange it yourself. If you need anything, let the housekeeper buy it."

"No need, we have them all at home!"

At this time, a maid ran over and said, "Mr. Qi, the housekeeper said that Commander Li has something urgent to see you!"

Li Ye knew very well that if Li Chenghua came to him at this time, the Liu family's affairs must have come to fruition.

He gave his wife a few more instructions about the sacrifices, then got up and walked towards the atrium.

Li Chenghua brought the latest interrogation results, and this result was exactly what Li Ye expected.

It was not just Liu Yuan who surrendered to Tibet, but the entire Liu family surrendered to Tibet. Liu Shengdian was appointed deputy governor of Longyou, but before he could announce it, the Tubo army retreated hastily.

After reading the confession, Li Ye walked a few steps with his hands behind his hands: "Besides the confession, is there any other evidence?"

"There are also a large number of letters and Tubo appointment letters hidden in Liu Yuan's study. Pang Fu has brought them to Beizhi, and they are all here. In addition, there is information provided by the Liu family in the Tubo intelligence station. Beizhi suggested that we take action tonight. While they were worshiping their ancestors, they served it in one pot."

Li Ye looked through the various evidences that Li Chenghua brought to him. Sure enough, all the evidences were conclusive, including the correspondence between their father and son, the letter written by his predecessor Shang Jiexi to Liu Shengdian, and the letter issued by the new governor Ma Chongying. Temporary Appointment Letter.

Liu Yuan didn't destroy so much evidence, but kept it in his own hands. I really don't know what this man thought. Maybe he thought it was an honor! Reluctant to destroy the glory.

Li Ye immediately made a decision, "On the eve of the sacrifice, the Liu family will be wiped out. All the men will be arrested, as well as the Tubo intelligence center and the insiders of the Pang family."

Sacrifices are usually held at Yin time, that is, between three and five o'clock in the middle of the night. This is the transition between night and day and the beginning of the new year.

At Yin Shizheng, Li Ye and his three wives began to offer incense and sacrifice in front of the spirit tablet. Sacrifice is actually a process, not the moment when the incense is put on. It starts from the time when the spiritual tablet, the incense table and the three animal offerings are placed.

However, the time of offering incense is the most formal and climax moment. It is the moment when modern people communicate with their ancestors and firmly believe that they have been blessed by their ancestors.

The three women, wearing sacrificial attire, worshiped with their husbands, burned incense together, and chanted words. The end of the New Year's sacrifices also means the beginning of a new year.

The Liu family was also offering sacrifices at the same time. The ancestor of the Liu family was Liu Yuan, the founder of the former Zhao Dynasty in the Northern Dynasty, and Liu Chan was regarded as the ancestor, but in fact they were the southern Huns.

Hundreds of years have passed, and the barbarian marks of their ancestors have long been lost on them. They are now just a small local wealthy family.

The Liu family does not have as strong an officialdom foundation as the Li family and the Xin family. The only person who can take advantage of it is Liu Shengdian's eldest brother Liu Shenghua, who served as the governor of Longyou and the governor of Shanzhou. Unfortunately, he has died of illness.

The Liu family is mainly dependent on the Li family. Among the four wealthy families in Lanzhou, he is the younger brother of the Li family. Since the Li family follows his lead, the Li family is naturally willing to take him with him.

Of course, the Liu family also has something they can bring to the table, and that is wealth. The Liu family owns the most land among the four major families, with four large estates covering tens of thousands of acres, and more than 60 shops across Longyou. , coupled with hundreds of years of accumulation, the Liu family's wealth is second to none among the four major families, even more than the Li family.

It was precisely because of too much wealth and in order to preserve the wealth that the Liu family surrendered to the Tibetans without hesitation when the Tibetans came to kill them. They also sent their second son Liu Yuan to Shanzhou to surrender. At that time, the Tibetans had not yet occupied Lanzhou.

What’s interesting is that the four major families are actually two factions, the Li faction and the Xin faction. These are the two bosses. The Li faction is civilized and the Xin faction is martial. The other two wealthy families, the Liu family and the Yang family, are each dependent on two bosses. , so the Xin family built the Tianlang Fort in Kanglang Mountain, and the Yang family followed closely and built the Long Castle.

This is why Li Ye wants to clear out the Xin family first. Once the Xin family is cleared, the Yang family will be cleared. So cleaning up the Liu family is actually a shock to the Li family and a stern warning to the Li family.

Liu Shengdian is about fifty years old, with a medium build, a donkey face, and a big eggplant-like nose. He has a very strange appearance. He is the head of the Liu family and the absolute controller of the entire Liu family. He is very strong and will not give any To save the face of the Xin family, he directly robbed the Luo family's grain store, something only he could do.

But Liu Shengdian also knew that he was not clean. He had surrendered to Tubo and even helped Tibet establish an intelligence point. Of course, building an intelligence point was not his original intention. The Tubo people took advantage of him and he had to submit.

He has always been on tenterhooks and very cautious. Li Ye has been stationed in Jincheng for half a year and has not made any moves against the Liu family. He gradually relaxed his hands and began to clean up the Luo family and annex his grain shop.

Just after the sacrifice, everyone was about to leave the ancestral hall. At this moment, hundreds of internal guard soldiers suddenly appeared with murderous intent and surrounded the Liu family ancestral hall, which covers an area of ​​two acres.